Bare Essence

Quality 0.50 · 1 view · Updated 2 months ago

American soap opera television series

title: "Bare Essence" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1980s-american-television-miniseries", "1983-american-television-series-debuts", "1983-american-television-series-endings", "1980s-american-lgbtq-related-drama-television-series", "american-television-soap-operas", "american-primetime-television-soap-operas", "american-english-language-television-shows", "nbc-soap-operas", "television-shows-based-on-american-novels", "television-series-by-warner-bros.-television-studios", "television-shows-set-in-seattle"] description: "American soap opera television series" topic_path: "geography/united-states" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bare_Essence" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American soap opera television series ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox television"]

Field	Value
image	Bare Essence Group.jpg
genre	Soap opera
based_on
developer	Robert Hamilton
writer	{{Plainlist
director	Walter Grauman
starring	{{plainlist
theme_music_composer	Billy Goldenberg
composer	Marvin Laird
country	United States
language	English
num_seasons	1
num_episodes	11
executive_producer	Chuck McLain
runtime	60 minutes
company	Warner Bros. Television
network	NBC
first_aired
last_aired
::

| image = Bare Essence Group.jpg | caption = | genre = Soap opera | creator = | based_on = | developer = Robert Hamilton | writer = {{Plainlist|

Robert Hamilton | director = Walter Grauman | starring = {{plainlist|
Genie Francis
Jennifer O'Neill
Lee Grant
John Dehner
Ian McShane
Michael Woods
Jonathan Frakes
Wendy Fulton
Jaime Lyn Bauer
Al Corley
Susan French | theme_music_composer = Billy Goldenberg | composer = Marvin Laird | country = United States | language = English | num_seasons = 1 | num_episodes = 11 | executive_producer = Chuck McLain | runtime = 60 minutes | company = Warner Bros. Television | network = NBC | opentheme = | first_aired = | last_aired =

Bare Essence is an American prime time soap opera television series which aired on NBC from February 15 to June 13, 1983, during the 1982–83 season. It starred Genie Francis as Tyger Hayes, and explored the intrigues of the perfume industry.

Miniseries (1982)

Bare Essence first appeared in the form of a two-part, 4-hour TV miniseries shown over two nights on October 4 and 5, 1982 on CBS. Based on the 1980 novel of the same name by Meredith Rich, it was directed by Walter Grauman and written by Robert Hamilton. The miniseries starred Bruce Boxleitner as Chase Marshall, Linda Evans as Lady Bobbi Rowan, Genie Francis as Bobbi's daughter Patricia "Tyger" Hayes, Lee Grant as Ava Marshall, Joel Higgins as Matt Phillips and Donna Mills as Barbara Fisher. Francis Benard, John Dehner, Jonathan Frakes, Susan French, Belinda Montgomery and Tim Thomerson appeared in supporting roles. It garnered excellent ratings, but CBS passed on a proposed series, which NBC picked up instead. By the time the series went to air in February 1983, the roles which had been played in the miniseries by Evans, Mills, Grant, and Boxleitner were taken over respectively by Jennifer O'Neill, Jaime Lyn Bauer, Jessica Walter and Al Corley. Francis reprised the lead role of Tyger in the new series.

Weekly series (1983)

Synopsis

Bare Essence starred Genie Francis, Ian McShane, Jennifer O'Neill, Jessica Walter and Michael Woods, with Jamie Lyn Bauer, Laura Bruneau, John Dehner, Jonathan Frakes, Susan French and Wendy Fulton in supporting roles. The show revolves around the efforts of Tyger Hayes (Francis) to succeed in the business world. In the first episode, her new husband Chase Marshall (guest star Al Corley) is killed in a racing car accident. Chase's father Hadden (Dehner) opposes Tyger's efforts to join the family business, Kellico, but she is encouraged by Hadden's sister Margaret (French) to try her hand with a new line of perfumes. Ava (Walter), the widow of Hadden's other son, is concerned that any success Tyger might have will undermine the position of her son Marcus (Frakes) in the company. Ava plots with Marcus' wife Muffin (Fulton) to undermine Tyger's success. It is later revealed that Muffin had Tyger's husband killed when she had someone sabotage his car. Ava eventually seduces and marries Hadden. Tyger's mother, Lady Bobbi Rowan (O'Neill), falls in love with a Greek millionaire, Niko Theopolous (Ian McShane), who wants to exact revenge on the Marshalls. Penny Fuller and Morgan Stevens join the cast midway through the season, while Ted LePlat, Richard Backus, Anulka Dziubinska, Paula Holland and Michael Nader appear in recurring roles.

Reception

Despite a great deal of promotion (with commercials like "Love her. Use her. Or destroy her. Everyone wants a piece of Tyger Hayes."), Bare Essence was unsuccessful and canceled after its first season, with cliffhangers left unresolved. Christopher Schemering called the series "a routine story of murder and family mayhem" in The Soap Opera Encyclopedia, describing Walter's Ava as "a stock villainess obviously modeled on Joan Collins's Alexis in Dynasty." Tom Shales of The Washington Post wrote that Bare Essence "comes up lacking on almost all counts. A better title would be Bare Minimum." He praised the female cast members, but noted that "writer-director Walter Grauman has given this talent little to do that isn't ridiculous on the face of it."

Cast

::data[format=table] | Role || Miniseries || Weekly series | |---| | Chase Marshall | | Lady Bobbi Rowan | | Patricia "Tyger" Hayes | | Ava Marshall | | Matt Phillips | | Barbara Fisher | | Armand Habib | | Hadden Marshall | | Marcus Marshall | | Margaret Marshall | | Melody Youngblood | | Billy Youngblood | | Niko Theophilus | | Sean Benedict | | Cathy | | Muffin Marshall | ::

Episodes

Miniseries (1982)

Season 1 (1983)

US TV ratings

::data[format=table]

Season	Episodes	Start date	End date	Nielsen rank	Nielsen rating
1982–83	11	February 15, 1983	June 13, 1983	85	11.9
::

References

Schemering, Christopher. (September 1985). "[[The Soap Opera Encyclopedia (Schemering book)". Ballantine Books.
Copeland, Mary Ann. (1991). "Soap Opera History". Mallard Press.
Clawson, J.. "1982–83 Ratings History: Soap Bubbles Rise, Several Veterans Part and NBC Renews Poorly Rated Masterpieces".
Shales, Tom. (February 15, 1983). "Such Gloss! Such Dross! It's ''Bare Essence''!". [[The Washington Post]].
Bruce B. Morris, ''Prime Time Network Serials: Episode Guides, Casts and Credits for 37 Continuing Television Dramas, 1964-1993'', McFarland and Company, 1997.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::